Content States

CommonSpot manages all content in a database repository and separately manages the state of each individual element.

Content for Elements can exist in one of three states – Published, Work In Progress, and Pending Approval.

Published content is the current content and is generally available for viewing by anonymous or authenticated users.

Work In Progress is any newly created or modified content that is “in progress” and not ready for public distribution. It has also not been submitted for publication by the author. In Read mode, only the author of the changes can see the content. Others with Edit or Admin permission may view Work In Progress content, but only in Edit mode. Otherwise, it is not accessible. Your Work in Progress content is indicated by a yellow icon. A purple icon indicates other contributors' WIP content.

Pending Approval is Work In Progress content awaiting approval. It has been submitted for publication by the author of the changes and is progressing through the workflow approval process, pending one or more approvals. A green icon indicates content Pending Approval.

As content for each element is managed separately, it is possible to have elements on the same page in different states. For example, an author with two text blocks and an image on a page,can have one text block in a Work in Progress state, another Pending Approval, and the image in a current state (no change).

CommonSpot displays different icons for the various states, to enable better management of the content creation and publication process. Clicking on each of the icons brings up the appropriate menu. For a list of Element icons and their meaning see Work In Progress and Approval Icons.

It is important to remember that only one user can be in Author, Edit or Approve mode on the same page at the same time. When you finish editing a page, it's a good practice to switch back to Read mode to allow others to enter Author, Edit, or Approve mode on the page.

Also remember that each element can have work in progress changes from only one user at a time. CommonSpot keeps track of content you change, and disallows others from editing any elements you modified (in the Work in Progress or Pending Approval states) until your revisions are published or discarded.

Users with Edit or Admin rights can take ownership of those changes, making them their own work in progress, but everyone else has to wait until changes are resolved before elements become available for editing.

You can easily access your Work In Progress pages through My CommonSpot.

Related Links

You can download PDF versions of the Content Contributor's, Administrator's, and Elements Reference documents from the support section of paperthin.com (requires login).